SHARES in Manchester biotech firm Cyprotex soared more than 25 per cent today after it announced a breakthrough for software which quickens the testing of new drugs.

The shares rocketed 26.56 per cent, or 4.25p, to 20.25p in early trading after Cyprotex said it had completed successful trials of its technology.

The software was applied to more than 150 potential drugs supplied by seven pharmaceutical companies.

It was able to estimate how long a drug stays in the body and was used to test several hundred compounds.

AIM-listed Cyprotex said the technology can reduce the number of animals, such as rats, used in research, while improving the chances that the drugs would work in humans.

Chief scientific officer and founder Dr David Leahy said: "We are able to offer to our partners similar information to that obtained in a phase one clinical trial on every compound they synthesise, at a fraction of the cost, within days rather than years."

Shares in Cyprotex have bounced back from a low of 2.75p reached in February following defeat in a software copyright ownership battle with Sheffield University.